Hot and Cold water not working after WH install

[BigHen]

A Rheem basic electric water heater with one element replaced with a AO Smith of the same specs. Hot water liine in and a cold water line out, each line has its own 1/4 turn shut off valve installed. Once I had it plumbed up I turn the water on at the street and eased the valve on to the water heater. Also opened the valve on the hot water side. I could hear the tank filling up and it did blow the air out of the line when i opened the kitchen sink to run it. But it stopped suddenly and no water would come from the hot or cold sides anywhere in the house. The outside hose bib does have full pressure. Im stumped, thought it was a vapor lock but I cut the lines to the hot water heater and opened both valves but no water came from either line.

Any ideas?

 

[MKS]

I shut the hot OUT off to chase kids out.
You may want to upload pictures of the installation. Including all valves.
Debris from the pipes can clog plumbing things .

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

Im stumped, thought it was a vapor lock

No such thing in pressure plumbing.

So you know there is a blockage after the tee of to the hose bib and before the next tee.

Do you have a whole-house filter of some sort? Softener?

 

[Terry]

It should be cold water "in" and hot water "out"
Sometimes there are ball checks in the nipples at the top of the tanks that prevent water from passing the wrong direction.
The breakers shouldn't be turned back on until the tank is full with no air, or the elements will burn out.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

It should be cold water "in" and hot water "out"
Sometimes there are ball checks in the nipples at the top of the tanks that prevent water from passing the wrong direction.
The breakers shouldn't be turned back on until the tank is full with no air, or the elements will burn out.

I have been stumped before on a water heater like this ... it depends on the brand of heater you have....

Some brands have a dip tube on the cold side that has a PLUG in the bottom of the tube.... if the PLUG comes out it will float up to the top of the heater and somehow find its way into the bottom of the hot nipple and stop the flow....

I had this happen on a 75 gallon Rheem gas heater we installed in a
restaurant basement and about 20 minutes after it was installed the hot water just stopped flowing.... so they were all going nuts...

I came back to the job and was lucky enough to have flex lines on the heater and I took the hot nipple out of the heater and there it was stuck in the bottom of the nipple....... I got lucky..

 

[Phog]

Is there any old galvanized steel pipe in the system? That can produce debris that can break loose and lodge downstream. Also, the shutoff valves you operated to do this work, what type of valve are they? (Ie. gate valve, ball valve, etc).

 

[Dj2]

Turn off the cold water supply and remove the nipple on the hot side.
Is the nipple plugged? What kind of nipple is it - galvanized, brass, dielectric?

See if there is any blockage in the hot side threaded opening, then clean it.

 

[Reach4]

The problem affects the kitchen sink cold and the toilet fill and everything in the house. So I am pretty sure the problem is not at the water heater.

 

[Dj2]

Reach4,
I read the OP again, you're right about that.
No way to know what causes that with the limited information given.
Need to see the pipe set up as it enters the house and the supply for the hose bibb, since it has cold water.

 

[Jadnashua]

Any time you shut the water off then back on again, it can disrupt a bunch of crud from the insides of the pipes. That can clog the aerators of various faucets, and mess with sealing in valves, but it's unlikely that it would disrupt the flow of water everywhere. WIthout more information, I think it's one of those things where you'd have to be there to evaluate it. If you have galvanized piping, that surge of water when you turned things back on could release a bunch of rust particles.